Last week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to remove Obama-era regulations on the internet known as “net neutrality.” In the days leading to the vote, Gov. Jay Inslee and other state leaders vowed to enforce net neutrality in Washington state even if federal regulations were removed. KIRO 7 covered the story.

Within minutes of the FCC vote, state Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced that he would sue to stop the FCC's decision. Seattle Met covered the attorney general's decision.

State Reps. Drew Hansen, D-Bainbridge Island, and Norma Smith, R-Clinton, announced bills in support of net neutrality at the state level. The FCC has said that it would preempt those laws, but Hansen told the website Motherboard that he doesn't believe they could negate his bill to prohibit internet service providers from blocking any content or throttling back service.

"The FCC has claimed that they have the power to preempt state laws but that doesn’t mean they actually do,” Hansen said. “I can claim I have the power to manifest unicorns on the Capitol lawn tomorrow, but that doesn’t mean that will happen."

There's a new network organizing the incubators, accelerators, and investors fostering innovation in the Pacific Northwest on both sides of the U.S. - Canada border.

Business collaboration across the 49th parallel is having a moment, thanks in no small part to a dramatic divergence in immigration policies between the two countries this year that have prompted U.S. tech companies to establish or grow their presence in Canada to access talent from around the world.

The Cascadia Venture Acceleration Network (CVAN) is focused on collaboration at the grass-roots level of the innovation economy -- specifically the cleantech, life sciences, and IT industries -- in the broad area known as Cascadia, encompassing Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia, Canada.